


if i know what love is, it is because of you

by avalonean



Category: Veronica Mars - All Media Types
Genre: Canonical Character Death, F/M, LoVe endgame, Multiple Soulmates, Platonic Soulmates, Soulmarks, Soulmate AU, Soulmates, first work in this fandom, following canon as closely as i can, i guess this counts as slowburn?, shocked but grateful to find it is still alive and well
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-07 03:16:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18864619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avalonean/pseuds/avalonean
Summary: The universe had a funny way of choosing the people Veronica was destined to love.





	if i know what love is, it is because of you

**Author's Note:**

> I first watched vm six or seven years ago, but this is my first foray into the fandom. Let's hope my characterization is okay, as it's my first time writing any of these characters. Thanks for reading :-)

Veronica was eleven when she got her first soulmark. It was homeroom on the first day of middle school, and she had just slid into the seat next to an unassuming brown-haired boy. She had never been particularly outgoing in elementary school, and didn’t intend to put much effort into expanding her social circle now, either. But after catching him repeatedly trying to sneak glances at the notebook she was scribbling into, something possessed her to turn to him.

“Can I help you?”

He floundered for a few seconds, clearly taken aback at having been caught. Rather than give him time to collect himself, she pressed on. “Do I even know you? You know, it’s kinda rude to be looking at people’s notebooks like that.”

“I wasn’t trying to-”

“-Uh huh.” She cut him off with a disbelieving tone. In all honesty, she didn’t care what he saw. The notebook was mostly doodles and scribbled song lyrics. She wasn’t trying to hide anything. But it was better to be rude now and have him leave her alone for the rest of the year than to ignore it now and have to put up with it later.

They were both quiet for a moment, Veronica returning to her notebook. She glanced at the clock. She hadn’t expected herself to be awaiting the beginning of school so eagerly, but now she couldn’t wait for Mrs. Christie to start talking. 

The boy next to her took a deep breath.

“Uh, okay, I’ll try that again. Hi. I’m Duncan. I... like your hair?”

She stared at him. He looked lost, and she almost felt sorry for him, until he stuck out his hand. What did he think this was, a business meeting? Not wanting to make him suffer too much, she shook it, but as she did so she couldn’t stop herself-

“A note for the next time you creep on some girl’s notebook, following up with unwarranted compliments doesn’t usually-”

She broke off suddenly, staring at her hand, which came away from the handshake with her palm a bright, pale blue. She looked over at the boy- _Duncan_ \- with wide eyes, noticing that he was looking at his own palm, which was now a ghostly white color. When their eyes met, she noticed that his were the same color as the marks on her hand.

She was uncharacteristically lost for words. “I’m Veronica,” was all she said, almost breathless. She had heard all about soulmates, but most people didn’t find theirs until at least high school, if not later. She had never really concerned herself with the whole thing. Soulmates were a nice enough fantasy, a cool plot line for some lifetime movie, but up until now, they hadn’t seemed quite real. 

But there was this boy in front of her, who the universe was telling her she was meant to be with. It was all like something out of a dream.

“Hi, Veronica.” His smile was verging on giddy.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

Of course, in Veronica’s dreams, she had the perfect thing to say to make her seem cool and impressive to her soulmate. This was clearly and painfully not the case.

“Hi.”

They sat there for what felt like forever, not saying anything, glancing between their own hands and each other. 

“Yo, Duncan!”

They were both snapped out of their reverie by the sound of someone calling out from the other side of the room. The boy (Veronica recognized him as Casey Gant, known to her only for the time he called Wanda Varner a bitch at recess) gestured at an open seat near him and his friends. “Come sit with us!”

When she looked back at him, Duncan seemed surprised- she was starting to think this might be a _thing_ of his, this lost puppy look. He had only glanced at her for a second, though, before a soft smile appeared back on his face. 

“Thanks, Casey, but uh… I think I’m good here.”

He turned back into his desk just as the teacher stepped up to the front of the room. Veronica wanted to talk to him, to really meet this boy who was apparently her soulmate, but she didn’t even know where to begin. So she watched the teacher, pretending as hard as she could that she was paying attention while watching Duncan carefully out of the corner of her eye.

After the third time they caught each other’s sidelong glances and had to repress their nervous laughter, Duncan slid a note onto Veronica’s desk. She quickly moved it under the desk, as if that would stop the teacher from seeing. 

_Sorry about the compliment thing. My sister always says when in doubt, compliment a girl’s hair._

She wrote a her response quickly and then flicked the note so that it landed on his backpack.

_What, so you don’t like my hair?_

It was worth it to see the panic on his face. This time, she couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled out of her. She didn’t even care when the whole class turned, or when the teacher reprimanded her. Duncan, eventually catching on, narrowed his eyes playfully.

To make up for it, she tore a sheet out of her own notebook.

_Okay, soulmate. Tell me about yourself. You have a sister?_

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it, it means a lot to see kudos or comments. I'm on tumblr @oncenfuture and twitter @countdowntrio if you wanna talk! I literally don't have a single person to talk to about vm except my mom so uh. please i'm desperate


End file.
